Fun story games for kids

Celebrate Christmas any day of the year with the hidden object game Puss in Boots Collector's Edition from Elephant Games. In this heartwarming tale, you find yourself a ray of hope in what could turn out to be a holiday season without a Christmas Eve. Why would anybody wish to keep Christmas from coming? Play mini games to catch the sneaky thief and find out if you can retrieve the Christmas Star in time to save the holidays. Unlock a Secret Room which contains challenges from the game's cast of cats. Download wallpapers, screensavers and view the concept art. Not only does Christmas Stories: Puss in Boots have stunning visuals, it also features a festive soundtrack and creative puzzles -- just the thing to cheer up even a Christmas Grinch.

Name a Kitten and It's Yours

The story begins when the heroine (you, essentially) discovers a kitten shivering on her doorstep. She takes it inside the house for warmth and prepares food to feed it. Unable to resist its charms, she decides to keep it and names it "Simon". She goes to bed that night but is woken up by a voice. The voice turns out to be no one else but her newly adopted kitten, standing on his two hind legs. He explains that he is one of Santa's helpers and that they need your help. Later on, you learn that someone has stolen the Magical Christmas Star and without it, there won't be a Christmas to celebrate. Thankfully, you have a few leads to go on with: only a cat could have snuck into Cat's Town and the culprit has left telling boot prints in the snow.

Of course, we all know who the master thief is. We do love the fact that the Puss in Boots in this story isn't a carbon copy of the one in Disney's version of the tale. Rest assured, he has his own motives for stealing the Christmas Star and it may just touch your heart.

Ask Simon for Help

Though quality of this caliber is almost a given for Big Fish titles, the delivery of Christmas Stories: Puss in Boots is quite extraordinary. The characters come to life in richly detailed screens and scenarios. The animations are quite exquisite, with short clips that are fully voiced. Throughout your journey, you will encounter cats that will ask for your help. They may ask you to repair their favorite teddy bear or give you a list of items to find. Hidden object segments coincide with the storyline. So, say that you're being asked to pack your things for the journey ahead, the items you will need to search for are boots, a coat, trousers, earmuffs and the like. These segments can be quite realistic as you will need to open closets and rummage through chests to find said items.

With its difficulty options (Kitten Mode, Santa Mode, Puss in Boots Mode), Christmas Stories: Puss in Boots is suitable for hidden object game fans of all ages. In order to make the game more manageable for young players and newbies, it features a handy Hint system as well as a skip function. Both take a bit of time to recharge, though the length for this changes depending on the difficulty you've chosen.

An Engaging Christmas Tale

The whimsical story coupled with a wealth of colorful imagery makes for a treat for the young and young at heart. Aside from its excellent visuals, the game shines when it comes to its creative mini games and puzzles. We give it brownie points for keeping the randomness to a minimum, choosing instead to keep the hidden objects segments in line with a theme. As it stays in line with the story, the point and click segments add to the current mood, helping players to immerse themselves. The music is soothing and gripping at just the right parts. The voice-overs are expertly done too and it made us want to listen to every audio clip instead of skipping straight to the interactive segments.

We cannot really praise Christmas Stories: Puss in Boots enough. With its heartwarming tale, it captures the spirit of the holidays. The characters are certainly charming, coming to life on screen with their distinct personalities. Play the game if you are looking for a unique hidden object title. It may not give you the challenge you're looking for if you are a genre veteran but it will entertain you nonetheless.